HRC Blog

Last week, Christian Minard was expelled from Southwestern Christian University after the administration found out she had married her girlfriend in March.

Minard, 22, was only one semester away from graduating with a sports management degree. Her school, affiliated with the International Pentecostal Holiness Church in Bethany, Okla., opposes homosexuality and same-sex marriage. Minard had to sign a covenant that prohibits “homosexual behavior” as part of her admission requirements.

Minard and her wife, Kadyn Parks, were married on March 17 in New Mexico. Minard received a letter from the university’s vice president Brad Davis on July 9 informing her of her expulsion.

“I was informed that you recently married someone of the same sex and saw a few pictures from Facebook,” Davis wrote in the letter. “Of course, this is opposing to our view as an International Pentecostal Holiness denominational university as well as the Lifestyle Covenant that all students must agree and sign.”

Minard faces a difficult situation because no other area university has a similar program. She would lose most of her credits if she transfers. Her expulsion also reveals an inconsistency in the university’s enforcement of the covenant. “Students violate parts of that covenant all the time, but they don’t get expelled,” she told the Washington Post. “I didn’t even get a hearing, just a letter to my parents.”

According to the Washington Post, Connie Sjoberg, provost at the university, declined to comment about the situation.